Anime Underground 16 Reasons Dragon Ball Z Doesn't Hold Up No Matter How Much You Love It

If you grew up in the 1990s in North America and your first encounter with Japanese culture didn’t come from Pokemon, it almost certainly came from Dragon Ball Z. One of the most-watched animes of all time, Dragon Ball Z pulled off the rare feat of being a sequel that was more popular than its predecessor. DBZ, as the cool kids called it, combined extreme violence with flashy visuals and the kind of outrageously over-the-top dramatics that have since become an anime cliché. Its main character, Goku, was at one point a hero whose popularity was on par with the Batmen and Spider-Men of the world.

However, like many childhood staples from the 1990s, Dragon Ball Z doesn't hold up when revisited today. It’s a viewing experience that mixes cringe-inducing regret with a genuine astonishment that you invested so much of your life in watching this compilation of brightly-garbed men shouting at each other. Watching Dragon Ball Z today is the kind of thing that makes you realize that your parents were definitely right to think that you were a weirdo. Read through these arguments about why Dragon Ball Z sucks and vote up the ones you agree with.

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The Great Saiyaman

Photo: Toei Animation

The story arc of Goku’s son, Gohan, was originally one of the best things about Dragon Ball Z. Gohan was the Carl Grimes of his day, transforming from annoying whiner to hardcore badass with his literally one-handed destruction of Cell. Gohan followed up all of this character development by quickly turning into one of the show’s lamest characters. When he wasn’t nerding it up in school, Gohan could be found patrolling the streets as the Great Saiyaman, a vigilante with a practiced dance routine and one of the worst costumes in superhero history.

There's So Much Filler

Photo: Toei Animation

For all of its faults, Dragon Ball Z definitely provided fans with several moments of dynamic plot and tense drama. Unfortunately, one of those major faults was the fact that great moments were surrounded by insane amounts of filler material. Every event seemed stretched far beyond its natural limits by endless build-up and countless diversions to the main plot. Even worse were the episodes that were completely meaningless filler, like the time Goku got a driver’s license or the time everybody just went fishing. Not exactly what you tune in for when watching a battle-orientated anime.

Only a Few of the Characters Actually Matter

Photo: Toei Animation

Even among the characters that can fight - unimaginatively dubbed "Z Fighters" - only a few characters truly matter. Goku and the other Saiyans quickly outclass all of their former allies and rivals, with the possible exception of the Namekian Piccolo. A show set on Earth soon had essentially zero useful Earthling characters. The Z Fighters were the equivalent of an unbalanced football team, where only a few key players matter and everyone else just tries not to get in the way. In the case of Krillin, they couldn’t even do that.

Dying Doesn't Matter

Photo: Toei Animation

Characters do frequently die in Dragon Ball Z. The series’ first story arc concludes with the death of Goku, countless characters sacrifice themselves, and Krillin explodes, like, a dozen times. The show doesn’t even bother with funeral scenes, however, because of the existence of the titular dragon balls. These wish-granting orbs summon the dragon Shenron, who can bring the dead back to life.

There are two limitations to this loophole: the dragon cannot grant the same wish twice and the dragon or the dragon balls themselves can be destroyed. The show completely avoided these limitations with the introduction of a second dragon, who could grant the same wish twice, thus rendering everyone effectively immortal. Even Krillin.